Baler tier signal



Feb. 12, 1957 M. E. MCCLELLAN 2,781,018

BALER TIER SIGNAL Filed Oct. 26, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. M. EMQCLELLA/V ATTORNEYS Feb. 12, 1957 M. E. MCCLELLAN 2,781,018

BALER TIER SIGNAL Filed Oct. 26, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. M. E.MQGL E L LAN A T TOR/VEYS United States Patent -C BALER TIER SIGNALMarcus E. McClellan, ottumwa, Iowa, assignor to Deere Manufacturing Co.,Dubuque, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Application October 26, 1953,Serial No. 388,376

7 Claims. c1. 116-67) '[his invention relates to an alarm or signal andmore particularly to such device for an agricultural baler.

The average agricultural baler is a mobile machine, propelled over afield of windrowed crops by an arigcultural tractor and having manymoving parts, including pickup means for gathering the windrows, balingmeans for forming the picked up crops into bales and tying mechanism fortying the completed bales. The accumulated mechanism is considerablynoisy as well as being relatively complicated and normally requires allthe attention of the operator to see that it is performing efiicient-1y. Some balers use wire and others twine as thetying strand medium fortying the completed bales and in either case the strand is supplied inone or more coils or balls, each of which is carried in a container andthe strand is fed to the'tying mechanism via an opening in thecontainer. The size of the coil or ball will obviously determine thelength of strand that it will contain and the length of the strandobviously determines the time of ultimate consumption thereof by thetying mechanism. Since the usual pickup baler is automatic, the tyingmechanism may well continue even in the absence of a tying strand, withthe result that formed but untied bales are discharged out upon thefield. It is therefore desirable that some form of signal, preferablyaudible, be provided either as standard equipment on or an attachmentfor typical baler.

Although many balers are equipped with internal combustion engines fordriving certain of the mechanisms, few'of these engines use batteriesfor ignition, and it is therefore impracticable to utilize a signaloralarm that depends uponelectrical energy for its operationu.

Therefore, it is one of the principal objects of the presentinvention'to' provide an improved form of mechanical alarm, preferablyone operated by a springwound motor. 'It is an important object of theinvention to provide the alarm in the form of an attachment that can bereadily mounted on existing balers with a minimum of modification ofbaler structure. It is a further object of the invention to achieve analarm that operates in response to the ultimate consumption of any oneof a plurality of coils or balls of tying strand, and to this end but asingle alarm is used even though the baler, as is able features inherentin and encompassed by the invention will become apparent as a preferredembodiment of the invention is disclosed in the following detaileddescription and accompanying sheets of drawings in which Fig. 1 is anelevational view of the alarm.

Fig. 2 is a plan view with the gong removed.

Fig. 3 is a section substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 but drawn tothe scale of Figs. 2 and 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a rear portion of a baler showing thealarm of Fig. 1 installed thereon.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2. Y

Reference will be had first to Fig. 5 for an over-all picture of thebaler and the, association therewith of the improved alarm. As shown inthis figure, the baler comprises a mobile frame mounted on rightandleft-hand wheels 10 and 12 and including a forwardly. disposed pickupmechanism 14 which operates in the conventional manner to pick upwindrowed crops and deliver them rearwardly to a bale case 16.Appropriate baling mecha nism, not shown, operates to form the picked upcrops into bales and to discharge the bales at the left-hand end of themachine via a bale case extension 18, whence the bales are discharged bya chute or tail board 20 to the ground for ultimate gathering by hand orby a bale loader. In some cases, the bales are discharged directly to atrailer towed behind the baler, all of which is rather conventional andis of no significance here.

The baler chosen for the purposes of illustration is of a well-knowncommercial type that utilizes wire as the tying strand. As is the casein most balers, each bale is tied with a pair of bands of wire and forthis reason the baler includes a pair of upper wire boxes or containers22 and a pair of lower boxes or containers 24. A representative type ofbaleris disclosed in the U. S. patent'to Mc- Clellan 2,612,099.Wire-tying mechanism is illustrated in the U. S. patent to Tnft2,512,754 and representative containers or strand-holding boxes appearin the U. S. patent to Hill 2,477,059.

As shown in Fig. 1, for example, the alarm comprises a main support 26having means such as bolts 28 for the aflixation thereof to the balecase 16. The support, for reasons that will be brought out later, ispreferably mounted onthe bale case so that it assumes the verticalposition shown in Figs. 1, 3, 5 and 6. The, upper end of the support hasrigidly secured thereto, as by bolts 30, a bracket 32 on which isrigidly mounted a horizontal strap 34, all of which comprises part ofthe suport 26. Rising from the strap 34'is an upright spindle 36 onwhich is mounted a spring motor designated generally by the numeral 38;This motor comprises a driving member 40 having an upperportion in, theform of a ratchet 42 and alower housing portion 44 in the form of aconcentric annulus of inverted cup shape to house energy-storing .meansin the form-of a coiled torsion spring 46. A portion of the spindle 36has therein a radial slot 48 (Fig.- 4)

in which one end 50 of the spring 46 is anchored. The .other end of thespring has thereon a hook 52 (Fig. 2) i which hooks about oranchors on apin 54 carried by the driving member40. The upper portion of the drivingmember includes an integral handle 56 which provides means forwinding'upthe motor by'angular movement of the driving member 40 in one directionso that the spring 46 can store energy to drive the driving member .inthe opposite direction. I

The pin 54 that secures the hooked end 52 of the spring 46, projectsdownwardly beyond the lowerperipheral edge of the housing 44 and servesas a lock member 58 and thus is part of releasable means including alatch or sear .60 .v [The scar is pivoted at 62 on the strap 34 and hasa hooked end selectively engageable with or releasable The spindle 26 isappropriately'mounted ontlie strap Patented Feb. 1a, 1951 t spects saidaxis and at its other sidea concentric annular housing portion; atorsion spring housed in the housing portion and having one end anchoredto the support and its other end anchored to the driving member so thatangular movement of the driving member in one direction winds up thespring to store energy for driving the driving member in the oppositedirection; a gong mounted on the support in spaced relation to theratchet portion; a clapper positioned in the space between the gong andratchet member and movable alternately into and out of contact with thegong and further having a part engageable with the ratchet teethso thatspring-driven angular move ment of the driving member causes the ratchetteeth to move the clapper and sound the gong; ,a lock member fixed tothe driving member; a scar movably mounted on the support for movementinto and out of engagement with the lock member for holding andreleasing the spring-loaded driving member; and upright rockshaftjournaled on the support and having means fixed eccentrically theretoand engageable with the sear to selectively achieve holding and releaseof the sear as respects the locking member; and upper and'lower armsfixed to the rockshaft respectively adjacent to the strand containersand adapted respectively to engage portions of the strands so thatultimate consumption of a predetermined amount of either strand willrock the rockshaft via the associated arm to release the scar and causesounding of the gong.

3. Fora baler having a bale case including a pair of containersrespectively holding a pair of coils of tying strand: astrand-consumption signal comprising: a support having means forafiixation to the bale case; an upright spindle fixed to and rising fromthe support; a driving member journaled on the spindle for angularmovement about the spindle and having an upper ratchet portion includingteeth spaced circumferentially as respects the spindle, said memberfurther including a concentric annular lower portion; a torsion springhoused in the lower portion and surrounding the spindle and having oneend anchored to the spindle and its other end anchored to the drivingmember so that angular movement of the driving member in one directionwinds up the spring to store energy for driving the driving member inthe opposite direction; a gong mounted on the spindle in verticallyspaced relation above the ratchet portion; a clapper positioned in thespace between the gong and ratchet member and rockable on the spindle onan axis normal to the spindle and having an under portion at one side ofsaid axis engageable with the ratchet teeth and an upper portion at theother side of said axis engageable with the gong so that spring-drivenangular move- 7 ment of the driving member causes the ratchet teeth torock the clapper and sound the gong; a lock member fixed to the drivingmember; a scar movably mounted on the support for movement into and outof engagement with the lock member for holding and releasing thespring-loaded driving member; a rockshaft journaled on the support andhaving means fixed eccentrically thereto and engageable with the sear toselectively achieve holding and release of the sear as respects thelocking member; and spaced arms fixed to the rockshaft respectively andadapted respectively to engage portions of the strands so that ultimateconsumption of a predetermined amount of either strand will rock therockshaft via the associated arm to release the sear and cause soundingof the gong.

4. For a baler having a bale case including a pair of containersrespectively holding a pair of coils of tying strand: astrand-consumption signal comprising: a support having means foraflixation to the bale case; a driving member journaled on the supportfor angular movement about an axis and having at one side thereof aratchet portion including teeth spaced circumferentially as respectssaid axis'and at its other side a concentric annular housing portion; atorsion spring housed in the housing portion and having one end anchoredto the 6 support and its other end anchored to the driving member sothat angular movement of the driving member in one direction winds upthe spring to store energy for driving the driving member in theopposite direction; a gong mounted on the support in spaced relation tothe ratchet portion; a clapper positioned in the space between the gongand ratchet member and movable alternately into and out of contact withthe gong and further having a part engageable with the ratchet teeth sothat springdriven angular movement of the driving member causes theratchet teeth to move the clapper and sound the gong; a lock memberfixed to the driving member; a sear movably mounted on the support formovement into and out of engagement with the lock member for holding andreleasing the spring-loaded driving member; a rockshaft journaled on thesupport and having means fixed eccentrically thereto and engageable withthe sear to selectively achieve holding tand release oftthe sear asrespects the locking member; and spaced arms fixed to the rockshaftrespectively and adapted respectively to engage portions of the strandsso that ultimate consumption of a predetermined amount of either strandwill rock the rockshaft via the associated arm to release the sear andcause sounding of the gong.

5. For a baler having a bale case including means holding a supplyoftying strands: a strand-consumption signal comprising: a support havingmeans for afiixation to the bale case; a driving member journaled on thesupport for angular movement about an axis and having at one sidethereof a ratchet portion including teeth spaced circumferentially asrespects said axis and at its other side a concentric annular housingportion; a torsion spring housed in the housing portion and having oneend anchored to the support and its other end anchored to the drivingmember so that angular movement of the driving member in one directionwinds up the spring to store energy for driving the driving member inthe opposite direction; a gong mounted on the support in spaced relationto the ratchet portion; a clapper positioned in the space between thegong and ratchet member and movable alternately into and out of contactwith the gong and further having a part engageable with the ratchetteeth so that spring-driven angular movement of the driving membercauses the ratchet teeth to move the clapper and sound the gong; a lockmember fixed to the driving member; a sear movably mounted on thesupport for movement into and out of engagement with the lock member forholding and releasing the spring-loaded drivmg member; an actuatormovably carried on the support and having means connected thereto andengageable with the sear to selectively achieve holding and release ofthe sear as respects the locking member; and means on the actuatoradapted to receive a portion of the strand so that ultimate consumptionof a predetermined amount of the strand supply will cause the actuatorto release the sear and cause sounding of the gong.

6. For a baler having a bale case including means holding a supply oftying strand: a strand-consumption signal comprising: a support havingmeans for aifixation to the bale case; a driving member journaled on thesupport for angular movement about an axis and having first and secondopposite radial face portions, said first radial portion being providedwith circumferentially spaced ratchet teeth and said second radialportion being in the form of a concentric annular housing; a torsionspring in the housing and having one end anchored to the support and itsother end anchored to the driving member so that angular movement of thedriving member in one direction winds up the spring to store energy fordriving the driving member in the opposite direction; a gong mounted onthe support in spaced relation to the ratchet portion; a clapperpositioned in the space between the gong and ratchet member and mountedon an axis normal to the axis of the driving member for movementalternately into and out of contact with the gong and further 7 vhaving; apart engageable with the ratchet teethiso vthat springrdrivenangular movement. of the driving .nien'lhf causeseth'e ratchetteeth tomeve the-clapperand sound thegongg'a lock member fixed-to thedrivingunember; a seartmovably mounted on the support'for movement intoand out of engagement with the loek .member for holding and releasingthe spring-loaded.drivingmemberaan actiaator movably carried onthesupport and having means 7 connected'thereto and engageahle'with'theseartto selectively achieve holding andv release'of the searastres'peict's the locking member; and means onnthe actuat'oradapteci toreceive a portionof the-strandso .thatrultimatecem sumption of atpredeterminedamount'ofthe tstrandlsnp ply will cause the actuator torelease the sear cruise 7 sounding of the gong;

7 V .For a "baler having a babe case including means holding a supply-of tying strand: a strandeconsumption signal comprising: a,.supporthalviiig means ionafiixation to the bale case; a drivingtmemherjdur naled on .the

support for angular movement about an axis andl'having firstan'clfsecond opposite radial face portions, saidfirst 1 a radial portionbeing provided .with rcireumjferentially spaced ratchet teeth andsaidsecond radial portion being in the form of a concentric annular housing;.a torsion spring in the housing and having one end anchered to thesupport and .its other end anchoredtto the driving member so thatangular movementof the driving member in one direction winds up thespring to store energy for driving the driving member in the oppositedirection; a gong mounted on the support in spaced relation to theratchet portion; a clapper positioned in -the space "bejtween the gongand ratchet member and mounted on an axis normal to the axis of thedriving member for movement alternately into and out of contact with thegong and further having a part engageable with the ratchet :teeth sothat springgdriven angular movement 'of the driving "member causes ;theratchet teeth to move the clapper and" sound the gong; releasable meansholding the spring-loaded driving member; and means connected V totherreleasable means and adapted to engage the strand sothatrultimate'consumption of a predetermined amu'nt of the strand supplywill cause said releasable means to release'the driving member forsounding the gong.

Re fereneesi Cited the -file of this patent K UNTIED STATES PATENTS

